Well, I finally went on my annual trip to the zoo yesterday. It was a bit of a disappointment on a personal level, but not so bad that I don't feel like even writing up a trip report like last year, so here we go...
Even though I arrived later than I wanted thanks to some traffic congestion, things started off fine as I sat outside Peacock Cafe, took in what's left of the entry plaza and ate my lunch. I was sad about what the plaza I'd known since I was two years old has been reduced to, but I kept my spirits up. I had a delicious lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some cheddar cheese, two hard-boiled eggs, a carton of chocolate milk, and some of my very own homemade chocolate chip cookies, but couldn't quite finish it all, probably because of the breakfast I'd eaten on the car ride there not too long ago (a hastily bought breakfast of a bottle of orange juice, a banana and a small ball of presliced mozzarella). Despite this, I went and got a bacon poutine from the Smoke's truck, then sat down on a bench and ate a couple forkfuls of it. It wasn't quite as good as usual, but still tasty. I considered going to the Kids Zoo, but decided against it after realizing I was very much behind schedule. Sorry, armadillos, bunnies and tamanduas, I'll make sure I get to meet you next time, whenever that may be.
I went to see the babirusa next, then checked for any Indian rhinos indoors but didn't see any, and went to the lemurs' summer home. Then I made what was probably, on a personal level, a huge mistake went into the Malayan Woods Pavilion. As much as I enjoyed snapping pictures of the giant gourami and the unique insects on display, I probably should've skipped this area, because it was kept so humid in there that I was drenched in sweat and feeling pretty gross before I even got out. It was far worse in there humidity-wise than any other pavilion and I don't handle such humidity well at all. I was also unable to spot the clouded leopard, which was kinda the whole reason I'd gone in. I already had to take a sitdown break by the time I reached the Indo-Malaya Pavilion, taking a seat next to the Kartiko statue, and after seeing again how much I'd fallen behind schedule and weighing the pros and cons of going into the pavilion at that moment, I made the difficult decision to skip it this year. I then went up the needlessly long new boardwalk, which made me even more exhausted and felt like the zoo personally telling me how out of shape I am.
I got a nice big soft-serve cone at Dairy Queen and it kinda made me feel better, as did seeing the penguins. I wanted to watch them be fed, but too many people had crowded around the window too quickly for me to feel like bothering. I then went and saw the wonderfully expanded hyena exhibit and watched the one hyena that was out at the time (forgive me, I don't know how to tell if it's Echo or not), and soon after got some incredible shots of the elands, who actually knew to look right at me when they realized I was photographing them. There were no lions or ostriches out, but I got some good pictures of the baboons and zebras and a cheetah cutely relaxing on the far end of the cheetah enclosure, between more sitdown breaks. My knees weren't handling this trip well, and I blame all the slopes and stairs I had to battle with. After taking some lovely pictures of the white rhino family, I took another rest stop by a fellow playing and singing to music and letting some kids drum along to it, and I grooved along without shame. It was a nice moment. I sat down again soon after, realized my handcart's wheel had somehow gotten busted and could come off at any minute if I wasn't careful, and started thinking maybe I should call the trip's end early. I made my way past empty hippo and warthog homes and got some cool shots of a giraffe contrasted with the crowd watching her, then sat down to text my dad that I'm coming home earlier than planned. I decided to buy a trio of cake pops at Thorntree Cafe as my way of celebrating the zoo's 50th and, again, cheering myself up--I got birthday cake, chocolate and vanilla, and the chocolate one (which I ate at home, eating the birthday cake one at the zoo and the vanilla one on the Go Train) was by far the best, wonderfully moist and fudgy. The next zoo trip I take, I'm getting the chocolate cake pop again.
I made a quick excursion through the African Rainforest Pavilion, having to hustle if I wanted to make it to the nearest Zoomobile station in time. As I went, I snapped pics of the gaboon viper, ball python, Aldabra giant tortoises, grey crowned crane, Nile softshell turtle, pygmy hippos, radiated tortoises, naked mole rats (which filled me with the most joy, I love my precious little nakies), Lau banded iguanas, veiled chameleon and spider tortoise, as well as the big mixed cichlid tank and of course some of the gorilla family. On my way out, I got to see Charles' statue, and expressed confusion at a young guest who seemed convinced that Charles is dead. The statue definitely captures our dearest old boy perfectly, and I love the touches of colour on it. Here's hoping we have more of the family immortalized like this someday.
I made it to the Zoomobile station a few minutes before the Zoomobile arrived, and in a rather personally humiliating moment, I couldn't even get on without assistance because I'm so large and unshapely. I was sad about skipping so many areas with animal I love seeing, especially Tundra Trek, as well as not getting my annual frozen lemonade or being able to try the North Burger like I'd planned, but I reasoned that if the animals were aware of my situation, they wouldn't want me to suffer just to come and take more pictures of them, and that made me a bit less upset. At least the ride was nice, as was getting to see a lot of the zoo that I'd never seen before, like the mural on the back of the Tundra Trek facilities and the greenhouse. The journey through the Eurasian free-roam area was incredible, especially with the gates that had to be opened and closed that made it feel as though we were entering some truly epic top-secret zone. Seeing the yaks and horses clearly for the first time was quite the experience, and it was cool finally seeing the alpacas again, as well as their donkey friend who I'd never seen before. After the awe-inspiring ride through the old-growth maple forest starting to become decorated with its fall colours, I disembarked at the main plaza station.
I quickly (as much as I could manage that with my legs being so sore) went to the Zootique and bought more new friends for my previous years' anteater, binturong and tapir, this time getting a pangolin, anglerfish and axolotl (and quickly deciding to name the pangolin and anglerfish Lumpy and Angie respectively). I wanted to get the badger, aye-aye, horseshoe crab, elephant seal and orchid mantis too, but I forced myself to just get the three that most immediately grabbed me--I may have just gotten a massive tax refund payout, but at $20 apiece plus tax, I wasn't about to spend over $160 on a self-indulgent plushie binge. Admittedly though, I feel bad about leaving the badger behind for a third year in a row and wish there was a way to buy it via the zoo's website. I also got my annual trio of rock candy (cherry, cotton candy and green apple) and a giraffe medallion. After this, I grabbed another bacon poutine to bring home with me. I skipped my annual hot chocolate at Peacock Cafe in order to make it to the bus stop in time (and I got all emotional and nostalgic looking at the construction scrim on the way out and seeing so many zoo highlights I grew up with and even got to be part of), so once I was finally back in St. Catharines after a lengthy train ride, my dad took me to Tim's on the way home for a hot chocolate to make up for that.
Overall, not too good a year, but it wasn't the disaster last year's trip became, so that's a plus. I just wish it had gone according to plan, especially since this might have been my last annual visit and so I wanted to end the "going to the zoo every year" streak with a bang.
